LARIDjE. 587 



BLACKHEADED GULL, Larus ridibundus. Although 

 common in many counties in England, especially in 

 the eastern ones, I do not think that this Gull can 

 be considered more than an occasional visitor to our 

 county : when the marsh has been much inundated 

 in the autumn I have seen several of them flying 

 about over the flooded fields in company with other 

 Gulls ; and on such occasions I have also seen 

 several at the birdstuffers' and poulterers' shops in 

 Taunton, but these have all been immature birds. 

 On our coast, however, I have never at any time of 

 the year recognized this bird. 



Like most of the other Gulls these birds collect 

 in immense quantities at their breeding stations, but 

 do not, like them, select the most lofty and beautiful 

 cliffs on the coast for nesting purposes, but, on the 

 contrary, repair to flat rushy bogs for that purpose. 

 The following account of one of their breeding 

 stations is taken from the * Zoologist' for 1867 

 (Second Series, p. 832) : " As you approach the 

 spot the birds begin to rise, and when you are fairly 

 amongst the eggs all hover in a dense cloud over the 

 nests : to endeavour to count them or to form any 

 estimate of their number would be futile as easy to 

 say how many flakes of snow one could see falling 

 on two acres of ground in a heavy snow storm; 

 there must be many thousands. Not the least in- 

 teresting is the fact that twenty-six years ago the 

 colony consisted of only a limited number; now, 



